Amidst vast liberty and freedom present today, certain standards continue to hold position in terms of what is deemed acceptable in society. These expectations are also known as norms, which can be defined as something that is of usual or typical behavior due to certain social standards upheld by society. With this, it can be concluded that even the simplest norm is affected by different factors such as culture, time, setting, and religion – something that varies in different societies. Thus, each society may hold different sets of norms as guidelines for these lies from within.
In most countries around the world including the Philippines, there are certain norms that apply when it comes to restaurant etiquette. Ultimately, the goal of this
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As I entered SM North EDSA in ragged clothing and face paint all over my body, varied reactions started coming my way. The first reaction I got was from a group of friends who looked at me from head to toe, and eventually called me as a “squatter”. However, the next reaction I got was from a security guard who politely opened the door for me at the entrance of the mall, and this was such a surprise on my part as I expected him to politely decline my entry inside the mall. Along with that, the reactions of several sales clerks and passers-by also surprised me in a positive way as I tried to mingle with a few, and for the most part, they still responded with respect. Here, the workers were able to maintain professionalism amidst being faced with a deviant situation. Lastly, in order to fulfill my role in Ramen Nagi, I had to slurp my soup, use chopsticks in the wrong way, talk loudly, and pay the bill with coins. Due to my whole look per-se, customers kept looking at me throughout my stay in the restaurant. I also noticed that the waiters gave me special treatment as they even helped me in counting my coins for the bill! Along with that, they always attended to my needs a little bit more as compared to other customers. However, they still maintained professionalism and composure throughout my …show more content…
Due to the condescending looks I got from several individuals, I can say that I felt judged immediately based on my “act” itself, even if people did not show their negative reactions first hand. On my part, it was not the best feeling in the world, and with this I know how some members in society feel on a daily basis just because they do not comply with certain norms held today. At times, I also felt uncomfortable because I was aware on the impression I was getting across, and this is where Charles Cooley’s “the looking glass self” comes into play. I believe his sociological concept is the reason on why I felt that way – basically because I cared about what people thought of me based on my look and my actions. However, based on my experience I can say that the concept of defying a norm has evolved throughout the years. Today, people are more open to defiance as compared to those from previous generations and this may be due to rapid individualism and acceptance of unconformity. This experiment also proved how professionalism has also been a big factor when it comes to customers unraveling social norms. With that, I can conclude by saying that norms operate as social control mechanisms, however only up to an extent due to the changing times our world faces today with the rise of different ideological forces, liberty, and
Societal norms are ultimately the sociological expectations for our society. So, when people see somebody standing in the middle of a crowded public place doing nothing, they are going to take notice. I realized that while standing in the middle of the mall where many people
In the 1950s and 60s Harold Garfinkle developed a method for studying social interactions. He formed ethnomethodology, which is studying the methods of people. In other words, ethnomethodology is the study of social norms. (p. 139, Conley) Most of us follow social norms unconsciously. It can be difficult to go against a social norm. The purpose of the project was to conduct a breaching experiment against social normalities. For this experiment, I chose to go an entire day whispering every word I spoke. I chose to violate this norm because it is socially unacceptable to whisper in a normal conversation. Throughout this paper, I will explain the methods and the results of this breaching experiment
A norm is a group-held belief about how followers should perform in a given environment.[1] Sociologists describe norms as informal identifications that administer society’s performances, while psychologists have adopted a more general classification, recognizing smaller group divisions, like a team or an office, may also endorse norms detached or in addition to cultural or societal expectations. [2] Norms running counter to the activities of the primary society or culture may be conducted and retained within small subgroups of society. [3] For example, Crandall (1988) noted that certain groups like cheerleading squads, dance troupes, sports teams, and sororities have a rate of bulimia, a publicly recognized life-threatening disease that is much higher than society as a whole. Social norms have a way of maintaining order and organizing groups. [4]
The feeling of being accepted is a feeling that everyone wants to feel and everyone goes throughout life in order to feel accepted by others. Nobody wants to feel like they are “on the outs” in life and nobody wants to feel as if others don’t approve of them, as that can be extremely detrimental to anybody’s’ self-esteem. I learned from this assignment that in life people often conform their beliefs in order to seem consistent with social norms. As I experienced when I didn’t conform to the “acceptable” and “normal” behaviors in society, people were extremely quick to judge me and it was very easy to observe that I was viewed as “weird” and “crazy” simply because I broke what was expected of me in society. During a critical analysis of the treatment of people who are different, break social norms, or march to the beat of their own drummer I was able to discover that conformity, compliance, and obedience is almost expected in society. It is expected that our behavior, perception, and opinions conform to social norms and when someone’s behaviors or opinions don’t conform to what’s normal it makes others around them uncomfortable and causes them to view that person as an outcast or part of an outgroup simply because someone isn’t living up to society’s expectations. In order to stay “accepted” in society we believe that
The reactions of people when you break a social norm can vary quite drastically. Sometimes the reactions are quite large and other times they are rather subtle. The reactions typically vary based on what norm you break and how strong of a norm it is. In the case of invading people’s personal space, I did not receive and intense reactions. All of the reactions I received were subtle. Not ma...
It was very difficult for me get out of my comfort zone and break the norms. I have always been taught to follow rules, and to respect my values, and what I believe in. Folkways and mores cannot be broken without the stares, glares, and frown of the people watching. Depending on the violation, as for the couple in Walmart, that was a norm that was very disrespectful and I understand the stares and glares were towards them, as for the man dressed as a women I believe society makes it hard for people to be who they want to be because of the constant judgment and the expectation we hold for people to hold themselves
I do not take the elevator a lot in my day to day life because I live on the second floor in my residence hall and my farthest I have to travel to get to class is three flights of stairs. I never see the need to wait for the elevator, but even though I probably have not been on one for over four months, I still, like most people, remember the social norms that go along with riding in one. When you go in you either push the button for the floor you need or you ask someone to press the button for you. If you were having a conversation with someone either you wait to continue it when you get off or you lower your voice considerably. These rules obviously only apply if there are strangers in the elevator with you. If you are alone in an elevator you can essentially do anything (that still follows all of the laws. You could sing to yourself, run in place, or even play patty cake and no one would know. The problem is, once someone gets on the elevator with you, these behaviors are now breaking a norm. I decided to take this concept of a quiet environment
I chose to break a social norm by sitting/ laying on the floor of an aisle in a grocery store, engaging in deviant behavior, instead of shopping for groceries. Sitting on the floor of a grocery store is a case of deviant behavior because it goes against society by breaking the norm. Because the standard behavior of people in a grocery store is to walk and look around, with usually a basket or cart, shopping for desired items, the expected response of others would be feeling uncomfortable, awkward, and confused. Upon performing my act of social deviance, numerous people demonstrated the anticipated reaction. As people turned down the aisle, I occupied, conversations died down to whispers or stopped altogether. Of the people who questioned me on my
American literature often examines people and motives. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, and in Arthur Miller’s dramatic classic, The Crucible, people and motives often depict patterns of Puritans struggling for life during a precarious time.
I violated a social norm by refusing to “mirror” the nonverbal display of one of my best friends. Her name is Hailyn and we have been best friends since middle school. Because we go to the same church, I met her on Sunday and she told me that she needed to talk to me. She explained to me that she was asked out by a man that she has been dating for two weeks now. I already knew that she was dating this person and that she was interested in him. Yet, she was never in a committed relationship so she told me that she wants to go out on a few more dates with the person before deciding to actually go out with him. To violate the social norm, I responded to her without empathizing. I tried my best not to create any chameleon effect of any unconscious nodding or gasp. My responses were very simple and straight forward. When she told me that the man that she’s been dating, I literally told her, “good for you,” without any facial expressions. She seemed to be a bit disappointed by my reaction but she still went on and told me that she wants to date
While trying to break the movie theater norm, it was difficult for me to pick movies with a different variety of people and movies that were a little older so less people would be attending them. I also had a little trouble when it came to answering the phone and waiting for the other person to talk first. The problem with this one was that I had to wait for people to actually call me, which doesn't happen that often in this day and age anymore. To conclude, these social norms forced people to be in uncomfortable situations and make a decision as to how they would react to it.
... day. The hardest part of the experiment was going against social psychology; it was very uncomfortable going against the social norms. We also found that it was difficult to match all of our schedules to be able to do the experiment all together when the gym was full. Overall the experiment taught us that social norms have molded society to believe that they should restrain their original thoughts and actions when in a public place. Lastly, individuals should not disturb other social norms that occur within the range of accepted actions, especially in the area of clothing.
There are many different things that influence our behavior, from internal influences to social norms. Social norms are explicit rules that govern how we behave in our society. Social norms influence our behavior more than any of us realize, but we all notice when a norm has been broken. Breaking a social norm is not an easy task and often leads us to feel uncomfortable whether we broke the norm ourselves or witnessed someone else breaking it. Sometimes however, you just have to break a norm to see what happens.
Norms can also be broken but violating these norms would be considered rude of disrespectful. Along with these norms there are also laws. Laws are the “binding rule created through custom or official enactment that defines correct behavior and the punishment for misbehavior” (Miller 2011: 175). The system of a law is more common among state type societies. State type societies such as Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, just to name a
When entering a restaurant, I usually expect to leave full, satisfied, and wanting to come back again. I believe that many people expect the same thing. The way people react to service can be very different from person to person. Depending on the way the customers are feeling, or the way that the server is feeling can be a big factor for the way service comes across. Service is an important part of everyone’s lives because majority of the jobs that people preform are service related. Poor service is an unfortunate part of life that everyone comes across. The way that I react to the poor service I receive is important and can change in the blink of an eye. Whether I react in an outspoken way, by getting loud and voicing my opinion. Or if I react in a quiet or apologetic way, it can affect my server, and the people around me, and myself.